


Humble Beginnings

by agRitzOE



Series: Slow burn, take it easy [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, its gay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 07:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15262626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agRitzOE/pseuds/agRitzOE
Summary: Every superstar duo has their beginnings, and sometimes they catch themselves falling for each other in the journey too.





	Humble Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This is quite literally the first time in years I’ve attempted writing something that isn’t an academic essay, and the first time I’m ever publishing it online! I took some liberties with characterization, but I tried mixing in bits of canon lore into the story. Also, I’m planning for this to be multi-chaptered- so do let me know if you enjoyed reading this! 
> 
> (go easy on me lol)

Dirt and gravel crunched softly under the weight of her boots as she settled down. Pearl cast the landscape a look before bringing her head down to stare at the ground instead. 

As usual, the view Mount Nantai provided was gorgeous. 

It was one she was too familiar with. A soft gradient of blues in the sky, the looming mountain range in the distance, the large of body of seemingly still water. It was picturesque. 

But it stopped being breath-taking after the first few times she made return trips. She couldn’t be assed to find a better location for her intents. 

The altitude was one aspect of Mount Nantai she’d always welcomed though. Something about her ears getting blocked from being this up high helped her think- but right now she didn’t want to think.

Right now, she needed nothing more than to shut down her senses. Shut down the thoughts prodding at her. Shut down the creeping sense of dissatisfaction after that botched gig. 

_Ugh! Not gonna think about that right now._

Most people enjoyed the fresh, crisp air of the mountains. That bit didn’t matter as much to Pearl. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her damningly tight pants, quickly lighting one up. 

Pearl took in a long puff, holding the smoke in her lungs for as long as could before letting it out slowly. Eyes now shut, she laid on her back and slowly drew in several more long drags until she realizes that she’d probably burnt through at least 3 or 4 cigarettes. She wasn’t exactly keeping track. 

The whole smoking thing started out as a dumb act of rebellion. Another thing she did to piss Mum off- but it also ended up being another nasty self-destructive habit she’d formed on top of several others. 

_I’m a mess_ , she thought. _I’m such a fucking mess_.

She got up, wincing slightly at the headrush her sudden movement resulted in. Time to do what she’d come to Mount Nantai to do.

After a precursory check to her immediate surroundings she took in a deep breath and screamed into the open air. 

It wasn’t a pleasant sound. Well, screams aren’t normally, but this one was especially awful sounding. It was hoarse, and her voice even cracked midway through the scream. 

_Fuck me, that sounded like shit._

The noise echoed a few more times, with each audial boomerang hammering the thought further into her head.

Deeply unsatisfied, she geared herself up for another scream. She shut her eyes in concentration, made sure her breathing was regulated, and forced her throat into relaxation (as relaxed a throat could be after chain smoking). 

Another scream. 

She wasn’t really screaming anything substantial. And this wasn’t like the warmups she’d do before shows, either. Maybe all this yelling was just her being angry and guising it as a form of art. 

Whatever it was, it felt good to yell. Her throat felt like absolute shit, sure, but angrily yelling into the sky was always cathartic for her.

The shout stooped into a low guttural growl and she stops, chest rising and falling as she heaves in slow, deep breaths. She revelled in the scream echoing back to her. It was a pretty good scream in her book. 

She was basking in it until she heard rustling from behind her. Her ears twitched. Did she hear that right? 

“Is…is anyone there?” she called out, cautiously turning around. Her eyes scanned for any sort of movement, but all she saw was still foliage amongst silent trees. 

Her hearts were racing. Not in the _oh shit I’m gonna die way _, but more in an_ I can’t believe someone just witnessed me yelling angrily at nothing way _.

Still apprehensive, she took a tentative step forward. The brittle twigs and leaves broke under her weight, making the same crunchy noise she’d heard earlier. She drew her eyes to the ground and found a trail. Someone was just here.

Pearl tracked the trail, which ended behind a close-by tree. She huffed.

“Uh… I know you’re behind the tree, come out.” 

A figure slinked out from behind the tree, tall, built… _cute?_ Pearl squinted as she gave the intruder a closer look.

It was a girl; probably a few years younger than she was. Fitting armour hugged her athletic figure, leaving her midriff- a rich russet brown- exposed. She pushed up her goggles, revealing large apologetic eyes. 

_Ohhhhhh my fucking god she’s cute. She’s so cute and I want to die._

“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you!” she started. “I-I heard a weird sound and I just wanted to know what it was!”

She had an odd accent. Maybe she hailed from elsewhere? Citizens of Inkopolis never frequented areas this far out anyway, so it checks out. Speaking of odd…

Pearl’s eye trailed to the puzzling stranger’s hair. They look…different. Was she an…she couldn’t be right? The stranger squirmed under her intense scrutiny and Pearl realized she’d been staring.

“I-I. It’s fine. There normally isn’t anyone out here. So, I uh,” Pearl stammered, tugging the hems of her tank top. “I come out here to uh. Yell.”

The stranger simply nodded, now walking towards the spot where Pearl had been initially. She looked back to a visibly uncomfortable Pearl.

“Why do you yell?” She asked.

Pearl thought for a moment. Would bringing up her stupid death metal band be more or less embarrassing?

“I have a lot of feelings and…uh…” she trailed off. “It helps get all that shit off my chest y’know?” 

She wasn’t exactly lying.

The stranger doesn’t really react to that, instead still giving Pearl the same watchful look she’s been giving her. The silence was heavy, until she sat down and asked yet another question.

“Why were you upset?”

“I never said I was upset.” Pearl was met with a sceptical gaze. “Okay, fine. I had a really bad week.”

“What happened?”

Pearl perched herself next to the very cute girl. “I pissed off a bunch of people,” she said, voice low. “I had a meltdown in front of my parents and said some things I shouldn’t have.”

_You got in a shout fest with your ever-disapproving Mum after she and Dad turned up uninvited to your last gig. You threw a tantrum, broke some instruments, and humiliated your bandmates for being unable to keep up with your demands later that week._

Details. _She doesn’t need to know._

The girl blinked, slowly. Pearl clenched her jaws, not liking how she’s unable to decipher the silence. _Time to overshare _, she thought. The week’s been chickenshit and she was feeling especially susceptible to capriciousness today.__

“My mum and I are constantly butting heads, and my dad makes up for his absence with cash. They…aren’t exactly supportive of anything I ever wanna do,” Pearl eyed the girl on her right, looking away quickly lest she gets caught staring again. “Parents- am I right?” she finished lamely.

“I don’t have any.” 

“Oh fuck. Oh shit, I’m so fucking sorry,” Pearl said softly. 

“Don’t be. I never had parents growing up at all.”

Pearl shifted uncomfortably. _Oh, I hate this. This is the nightmare scenario._

She continued ruminating on the stale awkwardness that formed between the two of them, hoping for any form of input from the other girl. And like divine intervention: a distant meow. _Oh, thank fuck._

A hefty cat bumbled lazily into view, barely sparing the girls a glance before plopping itself onto the ground with an audible thump. 

“Is that…is that a cat?!” the stranger croaked, each spoken syllable rising in volume. The girl rushed to the cat, letting it sniff her hand before patting it. 

Oh, right. Judd would probably be a big deal to any…foreigners to Inkopolis. Pearl sat back and observed the absolutely enamoured girl. She started muttering to herself, softly and in an almost indiscernible manner. It sounded like she was speaking another language, but she was too soft to know for sure.

Judd chirred lazily, seemingly done with the stranger’s fondling, ambling away from her to chew on garbage. “This…why is there a cat here? Aren’t they supposed to be extinct?” the stranger blinked curiously at Pearl. 

“I, uh, I’m not too sure. You sure ask a lot of questions, huh.” 

The girl laughed. “I’ve been told I’m inquisitive to a fault.”

“Hm. Well, I think curiosity can be a good thing,” Pearl smiles. “Say, I’ve got a question for you,” The stranger dipped her head, beckoning Pearl to go on. “Got a name? Mine’s Pearl.” 

The stranger beamed at her. “I’m Marina.”

“Marina…Marina,” Pearl repeated, as though giving it a try. “Nice.”

Marina hummed to that, then brought her attention back to Judd. 

_This is cute. Picture-worthy._

Pearl whipped out her phone. “Hey, Marina. Smile for me will ya? Judd doesn’t come out here too often so I wanna snap a pic real quick,” She lied, _gayly. ___

Marina indulged her, turning to face Pearl with a meek smile while still hunched over Judd. Pearl felt her face heat up and hoped it wouldn’t show.

* * *

It had been two days.

Pearl found herself at Mount Nantai again, favouring isolation from people in light of recent events. _Well, from most people anyway._

She sat at the same spot, scrubbing at her pockets for her lighter when she heard footsteps from behind. _Oh…Oh!_ She halted her movements, deciding against smoking around…whoever was walking towards her (she hoped it was Marina). Frozen in place now, she resisted whipping her head back to look at the visitor. 

_Don’t wanna look too eager now._

“Hi Pearl, is this seat taken?” Marina’s dulcet voice cut through Pearl’s musings instantly.

She mustered her best _lady-killer_ smile at Marina. “Yeah, it is.”

“Oh,” was all Marina said, disappointment clear in her tone.

“Huh- no, no! I’m joking,” Pearl fumbled for words, patting the space next to her vigorously. “Come sit!”

Marina does so, then eyed Pearl. “Did you come to yell again?”

Pearl inhaled sharply. “Nope! Not this time, haha,” she pauses. “Was yesterday the first time you’ve heard me screaming or...?” 

She’d probably been to Mount Nantai to scream more than twenty times over the course of the last few months. She’s do it at her apartment, but still found herself at the end of her disgruntled landlord lobbing noise complaints at her.

_Sound-proof studio, my ass._

“It wasn’t. I think I’ve heard you on three separate occasions,” Marina said, much to Pearl’s dismay. “You’re incredibly loud.”

Pearl couldn’t tell if Marina was impressed or just being observant. “What, you come here often?”

Marina sat in silence for a while. “I…live nearby.”

Pearl gave a sound of acknowledgement, and then, “Hey, about the whole screaming thing. It’s actually me practicing for my death metal band,” she gulped nervously. “I front a death metal band.”

_Pleasedon’tthinkI’mlamepleasedon’tthinkI’mlame_ , she mentally chanted.

“Oh, wow! Pearl, that’s incredible,” Marina exclaimed, eyes twinkling with excitement. “I’d love to hear your music!”

Pearl was taken aback. “Mmph, I’m not sure it’s your kinda thing.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Pearl shot Marina an uncertain look, then fished her pocket for her phone. “Okay…” she scrolled slowly, as if to stall. “This one’s called ‘Fuckin’ Dudes Be Fuckin’ Sleeping.”

She hit play.

The two sat in silence, listening to the song. Pearl felt her hearts hammering in her chest, for once fearing distaste from another person. Intense regret started bubbling inside her as the song drew closer to its end, and her fists balled up as it did. She awaited Marina’s judgement. 

“Pearl,” Marina started, turning to face her. “Pearl, what’s your band’s name. I have to hear more.”

* * *

Another two days later, Pearl visited Mount Nantai yet again.

She had time to kill, no errands to run and is super gay; so, she took a gamble and hoped to run into Marina again. Which she did.

“Pearl, I looked your band up the moment I got back,” Marina said.

“Oh.” Pearl let out a sigh. “Hope you enjoyed the single, scalding review on the web, then.”

_“‘If you enjoy inane wailing to shoddy instrumentals this band is just for you’_ ,” Marina started reciting, amusement clear in her voice. “ _‘The charming lead singer seemed determined to make it a one-man show, but her talent can’t make up for the less-than-stellar music and…”_

_“…wilted bouquets of bedroom poetry!”_ Pearl finished with her. “Shit, girl, you got that down nearly word for word- you some kinda brain genius?”

That garnered a hearty chuckle from Marina. “I mean, you recognized it!”

“Yeah, I’ve been obsessively rereading it, but I’m not _too_ bummed out about it,” Pearl tore her gaze from Marina to look elsewhere. “Maybe I got too used to being a disappointment, heh.”

Marina frowned at that. “The review literally compliments you, and you’ve got quite the following ready to jump to your defence.” She rested her head on her hand and Pearl sees a playful glint in her eyes. “You’re quite popular with the ladies.”

Pearl grinned toothily. “Oh, I know.”

“I even saw blogs with pictures of you loafing about Inkopolis Square.” _Oh, that’s news. Hm. I guess that’s flattering._

“Damn, Marina. You’d make a phenomenal stalker.”

“Thank you!”

The smile on Pearl’s face only grew, and she elbowed Marina lightly. “It’s not a compliment!!” 

They both burst out laughing and began playfully shoving each other. When the light horseplay died down, Pearl’s mind immediately zeroed in on the warm hand that ended up resting on top of hers. She wanted to think, but nothing of coherence came to her. It was all static and white noise.

_Hm. Time to change the subject._

“I had a fallout with my bandmates though,” Pearl withdrew her hand from below Marina’s to scratch her not at all itchy face. “I’m pretty much solo now.”

Marina gasped loudly at that, and her hands found Pearl's once again in a firm grasp. "What?! Why? Your music was incredible!"

Pearl could only look at their hands. She felt the heat in her face and from Marina’s hands- this time not obstructed by the gloves she would often be seen in. The gay panic was setting in again, and she was in turmoil.

It was unlike her; she normally handled crushes well. The notion of this…emotional vulnerability was unfamiliar, and largely unwelcome. The cogs in her brain stopped. 

_Calm down bitch, it's only been a few days. This is unbecoming of you. Say something!_

" _Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh_ it's a pretty ugly story, haha," She made an exaggerated head turn towards the horizon. “Well, it seems like the sun's setting, I should go!!"

She gently freed her hands from Marina’s, instantly missing the contact but also feeling relief wash over her. They both got up to prepare for their departure when Pearl rallied herself with renewed courage.

“Hey, Marina? You’ve got a phone number? You’re pretty fun to talk to.” She would have sounded suave were it not for the waver in her voice.

Marina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but…

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I don’t have a phone, just a laptop…”

* * *

Pearl had been told that she can be very ‘extra’ with, well, just about anything she did. But surely buying a brand-new phone for a girl she just met is fine, right? It’s charitable, if anything.

It’d only been a day, and she was at Mount Nantai again, much earlier than usual. She was making her way to their spot when she heard singing.

It was Marina.

Her voice rolled over the mountains in cantabile waves, powerful yet carefully restrained. The natural reverb enhanced the singing, amplifying Marina as she belted out the final notes.

Pearl was moved to wordlessness, so all she did was clap.

Marina faced her immediately, hands hovering before her mouth. “P-Pearl? I didn’t think you’d be here this early!” 

Pearl scurried to her usual seat. “Marina-”

“Pearl, I-” Marina said at the same time, and then laughed softly. “You first, Pearl.”

“Marina, you never told me you could _sing,_ ” she crooned, with exaggerated incredulousness. “That was… that was unlike anything I’ve ever heard! And I’ve heard aplenty. Also-” She brought out a plastic bag and groped for something within it.

She presented a phone to Marina, seemingly new and in an octopus case, bundled with a kempt charger. “Had an extra lying around, thought you could use it.” 

Marina’s eye widened and she grabbed the items swiftly. Pearl couldn’t help but smile as Marina ran her fingers down the phone and studied it with great intensity. 

“Pearl, this is too much!” Her eyes were still glued to the device as she interacted with the startup interface. “I…Hold on, I have something for you too."

She set the phone aside and pulled out a shoddy-looking laptop from her side. Pearl noted the many Squid Sisters stickers plastered all over the thing. _Mm, everyone does love them._

Marina tapped at the laptop rapidly, then turned it to face Pearl. A preppy drumbeat starts playing and she scans the screen.

‘Ebb&FlowDemo.frsh.’

It was a snippet of the song Marina was singing earlier, but with a simple instrumental backing it. Pearl found herself tapping her fingers to the beat and even humming along. The song was catchy as fuck. 

She verbally parroted her thought. “Marina, this is catchy as fuck.” 

Before she could even compose her thoughts for a proper assessment of the song her shoulders were grabbed with unexpected strength. 

“Let’s start a band.” Marina had a crazed look in her eyes, tame smile now fully spread.

Pearl matched her expression and spoke with the same intensity. “Okay. Let’s go to my place right now.” 

She heard the words leave her mouth and mentally flared up. _Let’s try that again, maybe less like a creep._ “Mixing could use some finesse. I’ve got a studio.” 

The grip Marina had on her tightened before she let go. “I’ll grab my stuff.” She called before bolting off.

Pearl watched her leave, dazed, flushed, and the most excited she’d ever been at the prospect of making music.

**Author's Note:**

> wahhh i hope you enjoyed that! i initially only had this posted on my tumblr but i got over my nerves and figured id share this here too! i drew a companion piece for fun, but i dont know if its a good idea to have one for each chapter....let me know what you think....


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